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Finished Mockingjay, the last in the series. It was not how I expected it to end, but that's not a bad thing.

SEMI-SPOILERS BELOW...

I expected one of the "guys" to die, but I didn't expect the "president" to be killed that way, let alone by who did it. Some fast scenes, where you read about the action only after it's occurred. The epilogue was very Harry Potter book 7-esque.

After learning of Ralph McQuarrie's passing yesterday, I decided to finally start reading The Making of Empire Strikes Back. Man is that a big book! It's bending under its own weight, this probably should have been 2 books in 1 slipcover instead, I had to take off the dust jacket to keep it from slipping out of my hands. Anyway, so far it's a good read, very dense, but I get a feeling that it's not quite as honest an eye as the ANH book before it was, there's been almost nothing from Kurtz for example.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

Since I'm making the end of my Spring Break a Steinbeck-a-palooza (driving up CA to his hometown of Salinas where the Nat'l Steinbeck Center is, joining a Writing Project Steinbeck workshop the next day in San Jose), I figured I'd read some of his shorter writing that I hadn't yet read:

The Moon is Down, not set in CA (not even in North America). It was very short, about a small town in Norway that was conquered by an unnamed army (based on the time period, it would be Germany) and how the townspeople either give in, fight back, break down, or muse about life when the invading soldiers settle in.

The Pastures of Heaven, set back in good ol' central/northern CA. A series of chapters from different families' points of view but all in a valley near Salinas/Monterey. Each chapter takes something from the other chapters, but you do get a sense of closure by the last pages. It's really weird to find yourself as a character in a book, especially if he isn't really a "great" one in the story. I liked this one more than the former.

Livin' in the 909, the first Steinbeck book was my 909th in my all-time list of books read over the years. The next book will be the inauspicious number 911.

Rudolfo Anaya's Alburquerque, and no, it's not misspelled. Apparently, a painter of the train stop sign back in the 19th cent. didn't include the first 'R' in the name. It was a nice story of well-crafted characters, set in the early 1990s in the city of the same name. It was a little slow getting started, as many books are, but about 2/3 in, it got quite good. There's a mystery that partway in, the reader discovers the answer, but some of the characters don't, as we wonder if they ever will. The ending's a little cliche' but it works for the storyline.

I wanted to read a couple more in March, since April won't be as easy to find reading time (but I've been able to read at least one book each month this year), and I wanted some likely light-hearted, humorous topics.

Bill Cosby's I Am What I Ate… And I’m Frightened!!! In his typical style, it's mainly family memories. But not as funny when your subject is health and eating issues. It was okay.

Logan Murray's Teach Yourself Stand-Up Comedy. Not that I'm looking to change careers, or to start a weekend gig, just picked it up from the library (it was on the shelf next to the Cosby book). Actually, there are some good ideas I can adapt for writing topics for my students, as well as general suggestions on speaking confidently. It's by a British author, so some spellings and slang were different, or as they say in England, "lift."

Like a batter who gets a bloop single in the 9th inning to keep a hitting streak alive, I maintain my at-least-one-book-a-month streak with Jeff Dunham's autobio All By My Selves. I knew much of it from various bio shows I've seen over the years, but his rise as a vent (the jargon name for a ventriloquist artist) and comedian is still a nice story.

Like a batter who gets a bloop single in the 9th inning to keep a hitting streak alive, I maintain my at-least-one-book-a-month streak with Jeff Dunham's autobio All By My Selves. I knew much of it from various bio shows I've seen over the years, but his rise as a vent (the jargon name for a ventriloquist artist) and comedian is still a nice story.

I liked it as well but it got a little 'heavy' at times talking about how great it is he found somebody post divorce blahh blahh blahh.
One Man's Wilderness by Dick Proenneke, its his journal of the first year and a half of his living in the bush in Alaska, a great read!!!

Two totally different books. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende was a slug-fest to get through (taking over a month and a few renewals from the library). I enjoyed it by the end, but it was so tough to read it (multiple PAGE paragraphs, including one with a multiple page SENTENCE). Very detailed as it traces a family over close to 100 years of events. What was great was that I believe not one single plotline or comment went unresolved; most were alluded to and then actually concluded a some point later in the novel.

The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman. It was what it sounds like. I thought there might be some Carlin-esque wit or commentary: not really. Just a "memoir" of her life with a few funny moments here and there. Mostly gross, crude, or "in your face" reactionary; but then, that's her style I guess.